Nobody browses for tyres. The search happens with the pressure warning on the dash, a bulge spotted on the sidewall, or a mechanic’s note that two are below the legal tread. “Tyres near me”, “tyre centre open now”, “puncture repair Dublin 24”, and the driver rings the first place that is open, close, and sounds like it has the size. Websites for tyre centres in Dublin are judged in seconds on a phone: the hours, the number, the sizes and brands, and whether they can drive in now or need a slot.
Open now beats everything
The first thing that matters is whether you are open. The hours on the site and on your Google Business Profile have to be right, including Saturday, the bank holidays and the early close on Christmas Eve. A driver who turns up to a locked gate because Google said open does not come back. The edit page lets you change hours in a minute and we push the same change to Google, so they never disagree.
The number is a button at the top of every page, with WhatsApp beside it for the person who wants to send a photo of the sidewall and the size.
The size question
Every call starts with a size: “have you got 205/55 R16” or “225/45 R17 in a decent brand”. You cannot list live stock on a page, but you can list the sizes you keep on the shelf, the brands you carry in each range (premium, mid-range, budget), and whether you fit run-flats, van tyres, 4x4 and SUV sizes, and motorbike tyres if you do. A short line explaining how to read the size off the sidewall saves a conversation. A form that asks for the reg or the size and the brand preference, and sends it to your WhatsApp, means you can answer “yes, two in stock, come down” from the bay.
Say whether you sell part-worn tyres or not. Customers have strong views either way and it is better they know before they arrive.
More than tyres
Puncture repair, wheel balancing, alignment and tracking, tyre pressure sensors, valves, batteries, wipers and bulbs, and whether you do a pre-NCT tyre check. Each one is a search and a line on the site, with a price if you have a fixed one. Alignment especially: people who have just put four new tyres on want to know you can set the geometry so the tyres last, and they will pay for it if the page explains why.
The week the clocks go back
Tyre centres are busiest when the roads get wet in October and November and people notice how their car behaves, in the run-up to the NCT, and on the Friday of a bank holiday weekend when everyone finds the flat before the drive to Kerry. The first frost brings batteries. Summer brings the pre-holiday check. If you take fitting slots, a booking page that fills Saturday morning by Thursday is worth having, and it is part of Complete.
The map pack is your shopfront
Most of these customers never open the site. They see your Google card in the map results with your hours, your rating and the Directions button, and they drive. So the Business Profile gets the right categories, the right pin, photos of the bays and the stock wall, and the hours kept true. How to get your business on Google Maps covers the pin and the duplicates, and what local SEO is explains why the site and the listing need to say the same thing. Reviews in this trade mention speed and price more than anything, and a steady flow of recent ones is what makes the driver pick you over the depot across the road.
What we need from you
Your hours including Saturday, the brands and ranges you carry, the sizes you keep in stock, your services and any fixed prices (puncture repair, balancing, alignment), whether you sell part-worn, whether you take bookings or walk-ins only, a dozen photos of the bays, the stock and the waiting area, and the number. Ten minutes at the counter.
Cost
Essentials, at €499 to set up and €50 a month, is the right fit for most tyre centres: the site, the domain in your name, the hours and number done properly, the Google listing and a monthly report of calls and direction requests. Complete, at €1,499 and €100 a month, adds online fitting slots, review requests after each job and the chat box. The two are side by side on the pricing page. If servicing and repairs are half the business, the mechanics page covers that side.